By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | Posted: July 31, 2020
Our life is mostly governed by our subconscious mind, and habits, too, are ingrained in our subconscious mind. Not all habits are wrong. For example, brushing your teeth every day is a healthy habit, and if you don’t brush your teeth you risk tooth decay or worse.
Taking a bath is another healthy habit. You bathe every day, and if you don’t bathe, you don’t feel good. But, if people who habitually have coffee don’t have coffee, they get a headache! Whether coffee is good or not is up to individuals and their doctors. Certain habits which are not good for your body, mind, or spirit give you pain.
Then there are habits which are even more harmful. For example, people who are addicted to alcohol or cigarettes, knowing well that excessive drinking and smoking are injurious to health, still do those things. Why? The habit promises joy, but doesn’t really deliver it to you. If you ask people who smoke, “Are you really ecstatic smoking?” they usually say no. But they can’t stop it. If you stop, it’s painful. So it doesn’t give you any great joy, and you know it’s not good for you or your health, but you can’t leave it. What do you do in this situation? How do you get over these habits?
The mechanics of habit
This is a big question. The whole world is grappling with this problem, right? I’d say there are 3 ways to tackle your habits:
Number one, love. You promised something to someone you love very much, suppose you promised your daughter, your wife, your mother, someone very dear to you. And you promised, ‘No, I won’t touch this. I won’t smoke.’ You’re likely to follow through on that.
The second way is fear. When the doctor says “One more puff, that’s it. Your liver is going to be irreparable, and your lung will collapse. You can’t touch even one single cigarette.” Then, out of fear, you can get over that habit.
Third is greed. Suppose someone tells you, “If you don’t smoke for one whole month, I’m going to give you a million dollars.” Then, you’ll make sure it’s not just 30 days. It’s 32 days, so in counting you shouldn’t go wrong. That greed in you to get that money will help you to let go of those habits.
So, 3 things can help: fear, love, and greed.
One step at a time
Don’t promise yourself that you’ll do it forever. First of all, you might not leave your habit on the first try. That makes you miserable. On top of it, being unable to keep the promise makes you even more miserable. So, for that, I’d give you one piece of advice. If the habit is so deep in you, if you feel you can’t get over it, I’d tell you, take a short period of time, say for 10 days or 1 month, I won’t do this habit. This is easier for you.
One step at a time, you’ll be successful. Same with people addicted to alcohol. It has ruined many families. You’re drinking alcohol so much. Your liver is getting damaged. Your health is badly affected, your relationships are affected, and then you end up in rehab, and you get better. Then you come back and you latch onto it again. In all this, when you feel guilty about your habit, you start justifying it.
Stay out of a downward spiral
I remember one gentleman said alcohol had become his blood. So, if he didn’t drink, he’d rather die. But it won’t work to defend or justify one’s habit. And no need to feel guilty about it either. It’s a fine line not to feel guilty, because with guilt, you find yourself getting into that spiral again and again, going down and down and down. It leads you into depression.
In these situations, I’d say meditation will definitely help you. Pranayama and meditation. Along with this, taking a vow or promising someone very dear to you that you’ll abstain from it for a period of time will definitely get you over these habits. You’ll find yourself fully enthusiastic, and you’ll talk to other people about how to master their own habits.
That’s freedom. Otherwise, we’re bound by our own habits, and they can make us miserable day in and day out, right? So, let’s do it. Let’s meditate, let’s do breathing, let’s do kriya, and let’s promise our dear ones. Never mind if you break the promise. Start again from that time forward. Don’t give up. Eventually you’ll be successful. Many have found solace. They’ve been successful in gaining mastery over their habits.
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